Wildfire
by Lalaith Quetzalli
Summary: Skyeward AU - He once told her he didn't regret what he'd done, not if it meant she was safe; she wouldn't regret her actions either then. In the end, she'd been many things: orphan, daughter, sister, gifted, agent, inhuman, flower, Caterpillar, hero, princess, would-be-queen... but only one truly mattered: she was his wildfire... - One Shot - Read notes inside please.


(This story can be seen as a companion to _Secret Warriors_ or as a Stand Alone, both work)

So... this is the story that was never going to exist. Insane as that may sound. To explain that: the short version of it would be to say that this fic was inspired by a video that was loosely based on another fic of mine. Confused yet? The longer version of the story is this: A while ago I was watching Skyeward vids, and I found the best one ever, with the song iGhost of You/i of Selena Gómez. So I asked the wonderful BloodlessAgain, who created the video, if she'd ever taken requests. She agreed to give it a try, and I gave her the basic story I was creating for Secret Warriors. Of course, her interest was in the Skyeward romance, which back then was going to be a secret in the actual fic. Then I considered keeping it like that in the actual story, but give the couple their own short fic. Man plans, God laughs, as they say. I couldn't get enough ideas to actually make the separate fic (or a title, for that matter), and Skyeward insisted on making itself known in Secret Warriors, so I followed my muse's orders. Now, two days ago I watched the video BloodlessAgain had created based on my idea. I was absolutely fascinated. It also inspired me like nothing had in a while, I just needed to write Skyeward. And so this fic came to be, finally.

IMPORTANT: I know some people aren't fans of OCs, sorry about that. All you need to really know before reading this fic is that Kathryn Adler is an elite SHIELD Agent who's Nick Fury's partner (on and off the field), the rest is revealed in the story.

For those interested, Kathryn Adler is played in my head (and some fanarts I've created) by Kristin Ann Thomas; while Silbhé/Arianna is played by Emily Browning.

The song used here is Wildfire, by Demi Lovato.

I don't own anything of AoS, the MCU, etc, etc.

* * *

Wildfire

 _(_ Companion of sorts to _Secret_ _Warriors_ )

 _By: Lalaith Quetzalli_

 _He once told her he didn't regret what he'd done, not if it meant she was safe; she wouldn't regret her actions either then. In the end, she'd been many things: orphan, daughter, sister, gifted, agent, inhuman, flower, Caterpillar, hero, princess, would-be-queen... but only one truly mattered: she was his wildfire..._

It was the end... or that's what it felt like to her anyway. Hopefully, even if some things had to end after that day, those that truly mattered, wouldn't.

She kept fidgeting somewhat, unused as she was to being on the other side of an interrogation. Not that there was much 'interrogating' going on. Hand had asked questions, demanded answers, even tried to threaten her at some point, it was all pointless. The brown-eyed brunette didn't so much as open her mouth.

Eventually Agent Victoria Hand gave up. It wasn't like she could actually hurt her in any way; regardless of how messy things might have gotten in the previous week, Daisy Johnson was still a SHIELD Agent, and an Elite; Quake, one of the former leaders of the famed Caterpillars, princess of the Inhumans (technically Queen, as far as some of the more traditional ones among them were concerned); and, most importantly in some circles, the adopted daughter of Kathryn Adler, the Sphinx, and Nicholas Fury, the Directors of SHIELD.

The young woman wondered at times what her life would have been like if she hadn't been adopted when she was four-years-old, if she hadn't grown up with Silbhé Kinross-Salani (aka Arianna Johnson, the Nightingale) as her sister, and later on even Loki (Luke Serrure, Luka Hvedrungr), the God of Mischief as her brother (and her sister's match). She wondered if she would still have ended where she was in that moment, in that interrogation room, waiting for others to decide her fate. Wondered if she'd have still had him...

" _I don't regret what I've done."_

" _You don't?!"_

" _Not if it means you're safe."_

That was what he'd told her once, days (an eternity) ago, when things seemed to be go completely insane all around them... she believed him. She was sure that no matter what, he'd never change his mind about that. Which meant she could do no less but return the sentiment; she wouldn't regret her own actions. In the end, all she'd done, she'd done for love, and she was not so much of a hypocrite to pretend to regret that.

After but a few minutes someone else entered the room and her eyes widened for the first time since it'd all begun. She wasn't expecting Phil Coulson to be sent, not after Hand finally gave up. Then again, some people probably believed that he was the only one who might remain objective about the whole situation, and still had some hope to get answers from her. There were few people outside of her family that she respected, after all, and he was certainly at the top of that short list:

"Daisy..." He began, then let out a breath and said instead. "Skye..."

"Hey AC..." She greeted him with a small smile on her lips. "So you're to be my interrogator, then? Have to admit I wasn't expecting them to send you."

"They didn't send me, I offered." He explained. "I don't know what you said to Hand but..."

"Nothing." Skye interrupted, then clarified. "I told her nothing, at all. That might be what made her angry. From what I know she's always prided herself in her 'interrogation techniques'." she snorted. "In any case, I saw no reason to answer her questions. Particularly as they kept getting all the more insulting towards me, my intelligence and the people I care for..."

"People that, from what I've learned, happen to include one Grant Ward..." Phil finished for her. "A supporter of HYDRA, a traitor..."

Skye's eyes narrowed, but she didn't say a word, she was waiting for the question, to see how it'd be worded. Eventually, it came:

"How did that happen?" He inquired, sounding surprisingly non-judgmental. "I've heard all about how Ward fell for you, now explain to me how you fell for him."

It was an odd way to handle an interrogation, especially when she was quite sure that most people had little interest on her affair with Grant Ward, and a lot more on why she'd chosen to follow him when he'd revealed himself as HYDRA. At the same time, Phil knew her, better than many people, almost as well as her family and her former team (her family of choice). He probably knew the best ways to make her talk... in any case, it wasn't like she'd planned on holding her silence forever, only until she could explain things to someone who might be willing to listen, rather than just twist her words to fit their beliefs...

"When would you say was the first time Grant and I met?" Skye asked in turn, making a point already by calling the man by his first name.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Phil sputtered, confused.

"Just bear with me." She insisted. "I promise it'll all become clear."

She didn't actually need to wait for an answer, she had a very good idea already of what was in his mind, still she waited:

 _Phil Coulson had been in the Triskellion, settling some details before leaving for what would probably be a long, taxing mission. He'd been assigned to a new mixed-up team: two scientists (who'd barely passed the tests to work on the field), two field agents (one a gifted and part of the famed Caterpillars team, and another who'd only ever worked solo missions), a former field-agent and pilot, and an Elite (who surpassed him in rank, yet was in that team mostly as protection to herself, in order to keep her away from the would-be assassins who'd just learned she hadn't actually died years prior as was believed)._

 _The only good thing, Phil thought, was that he'd known Melinda May and Daisy Johnson for years by that point; Kathryn Adler, the Sphinx, had been his own SO. He didn't know FitzSimmons very well, but they were good people and obvious geniuses who really wanted to learn more of the world. The only true unknown was Grant Ward._

 _Phil knew he'd just finished a mission, his last solo one, when the two of them first met. There were clips of the Caterpillars on the screen, images that had been caught by some traffic cameras and the like during the battle against the Chitauri, in Puerto Rico, months earlier. Coulson had arranged it that way, he wanted to see Ward's reaction to Gifted. The younger man's attention immediately went to the screen:_

" _What's that?" He blurted out, seemingly between confused and intrigued._

" _That's a superhero, Agent Ward."_

 _He'd kept an eye on him as they boarded the Zephyr One, as Agents Ward and Johnson came face to face for the first time... or that's what he'd thought._

"That day on the Zephyr." Phil stated, thought it sounded more like a question than an answer. "That wasn't the first time, was it?"

It hadn't occurred to him until that moment, the lack of shock or even true surprise in Ward's expression. It wasn't only that he didn't mind the fact that there was one of the Gifted in the team (and then there was Melinda, who, human as she was, had also been a Caterpillar), there had been an ease to his posture, to his attitude... Phil hadn't wanted to question his good luck. An agent known for solo missions, for his cold attitude, fitting so well in their little group of misfits... What if it hadn't been an accident? In more ways than one.

Ever since the betrayal, since HYDRA had been revealed, Phil had cursed himself for not seeing the truth about Grant Ward. For not picking up on how odd it had been for John Garrett to offer his best subordinate to join the special team. But what about everyone else? What about Kathryn? Melinda? And Skye herself... Had they not seen it either, or had they seen something else...? For the first time Phil began truly wondering how much he'd missed.

"The first time I saw Grant Ward I was nineteen years old." Skye said honestly. "After Bahrain, and Loki leaving Asgard behind following the mess of Thor's brief exile to our world, it wasn't just my sister and I anymore. We were becoming a true team. Natasha pointed him out to me, to us. Said he had the highest scores since herself and, even though he was only human, he might prove a good addition to the Caterpillars."

"Melinda is only human." Phil pointed out absently.

"She's never needed anything else to be completely badass, you know that as well as I do."

"Of course. So you saw Ward..."

"His scores were truly something, but he was already used to working solo, and we were so new to being a team, we weren't sure if we could take that kind of risk. Besides, with the kind of firepower we were capable of packing it wasn't like we actually needed more people."

"That wasn't the last time." Phil guessed.

"No, it wasn't." Skye agreed, getting into the story, the memories. "The next time was several months later. He was on some mission in the Middle-East, black-ops, eyes-only kind of mission, no extraction." She shook her head. "We happened to be there completely by accident. Had been tracking a possible gifted east of Cairo... which was a complete bust by the way. Nightingale sensed the pain first. You know how empathic she is, there's no way there could be someone in pain and us do nothing. So we approached covertly. We found a single agent, using a half-wrecked jeep as cover while trying to fight what must have been at least a dozen arm-dealers. It was obvious to us all that he was fighting a losing battle."

"So you went in to save a colleague."

"We didn't actually know for sure that he was SHIELD, not at first. We couldn't see him very well from where we were, on the other end of the alley. But we knew the kind of men who were firing at him, and that he wasn't going to last much longer, so we intervened."

It was more like She intervened, and her siblings followed before she could get killed... not that she told Coulson that. She couldn't have possibly explained to him why she did it. How she'd felt like her heart was about to burst inside her chest at the thought of that man dying, even before laying eyes on him, before realizing who he was, she'd known she couldn't just let him die.

"So you saved his life, and became friends, just like that?" Phil hazarded a guess.

"Actually..." Skye almost snorted at the thought. "No, it wasn't like that at all. After we handled the arm-dealers, Cavalry picked us up. Ward was in a bad way. So, we saw to him, and then took him to the Hub. He was still unconscious when we dropped him off in their infirmary... what we didn't know at the time was that even with his grievous wounds and all the blood he'd lost by that point, he was still awake when we got there, and aware enough that he saw us, he saw me, the things I could do... that was the start."

She could remember that. Remember when she'd been warned by some acquaintances at IT of someone getting into her records, and those of the other Caterpillars; on the same day someone had accessed the Index (and probably realized that, while gifted, neither she nor her sister were in it). And then Lance had pulled her to a side during a visit to the Playground to inform her there was a boy asking around about her and her team; though he seemed to be particularly focused on her. The former mercenary had been so sure he was some kind of admirer (or perhaps a stalker), Skye had by that point realized it was much worse.

"He researched me." Skye went on with her tale. "All the team really, but me in particular, during the following months or so. This was before I'd sealed all records concerning us Caterpillars, and he found out more than I ever expected. And then he saved Mama..."

"What...?!" Phil obviously hadn't known about that.

"He was the one who found out about HYDRA's plot, in Malta." Skye informed him quietly.

"The summit..." Phil breathed out in realization. "Where all those world leaders died... where Kathryn was presumed dead..."

"Exactly." She nodded solemnly. "Grant found out about it, he passed on the information to us. It was how we could coordinate things, to save Mama, yet let others believe they'd succeeded in killing her. It was also at that point that we realized there was more to the attempts to bring back HYDRA than just Whitehall's experiments in the Arctic, and Von Strucker's own work in Sokovia... a lot more."

And if anyone could know what they were talking about, it was her, as she'd been involved in both matters. Von Strucker's base in Sokovia had been investigated by SHIELD less than a year before the Caterpillars had disbanded. At first it hadn't seemed like they'd find much, the castle-like structure appeared mostly empty upon arrival, but the Johnson Agents had had a hunch, and when others doubted, they pushed forward. The whole mission had ended with a number of neo-nazis arrested, and with the finding of two enhanced: twins, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, whom Von Strucker had experimented on, in his attempt to create 'synthetic gifted' so-to-speak. He hadn't realized (neither had SHIELD, until much later) that the potential for abilities had been in the twins long before the experiments. In the end, he hadn't given them powers, all he'd done was bring forth what was already there.

The Maximoff twins had, after some therapy, taken the code-names of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch and joined the Caterpillars. They'd been right there for the fight against the Chitauri, when the team had dropped the whole 'Secret Warriors' approach they'd been using until then (helping where they could yet always making sure to remain hidden) and revealed themselves to the world, along with the newly formed Avengers. They'd moved away when the leaders of the X-Men had shown an interest in them. It'd seemed like a good idea, a way to foster good relations, and possibly for the twins to learn more of the origins of their own gifts.

Whitehall and the Arctic had been another matter entirely. Skye and Silbhé Kinross-Salani were adopted daughters of Nick Fury and his wife (though few knew of the union) Kathryn Adler (though Silbhé was actually born her niece, daughter to a brother who'd passed away shortly after his wife, when the girl was barely three). They'd been training in self-defense since they were eleven, and had decided early on to follow in the footsteps of their parents and become Agents of SHIELD one day. They'd been sixteen when their training was declared finished, having also finished two undergrads each by the summer of the same year. However, Fury had declared them to be too young to become active agents. The girls had refused to take that lying down. They'd thought it would be so easy, to solve a cold case for SHIELD, prove themselves. They'd chosen the death of Agent Sharon Carter*, former teammate of their parents, Elite, and also the woman who'd directed Kathryn towards Skye and her situation before disappearing. It'd been everyone's belief that there was some sort of connection, between the woman's disappearance (and presumed death) and the tragedy that had taken place in the Hunan Province, China, where Skye herself had been found as a baby, before being placed secretly in St. Agnes for her own safety.

Their self-imposed mission had proven to be full of danger and complications as the sisters traveled from one place to another through the summer, following every single clue they could unearth (passing it all off as a sort of road-trip to clear their heads after being refused). It all came to an abrupt end in abandoned stone temple, in an underground cave just off San Juan, Puerto Rico; where the sisters found themselves, and a girl called Raina (whom they'd met time and again through the summer, and was actually the one to lead them to that place), as an odd device known as the Diviner went off.

All three of them had been changed that day, though not all in the same way. Skye and Raina had proven to be Inhumans, descendants of a group of humans who'd been genetically altered by an alien race known as the Kree a very long time prior (like thousand of years prior). Silbhé wasn't an Inhuman, but she had the protection of higher power: Loki of Asgard, the god of mischief, whom the sisters had met while young in their garden. He had saved Silbhé's life from the Cancer through a set of bracelets that allowed his energy to go into her and keep the disease at bay (she was technically still sick and would always be). That same bracelet and Loki's favor had saved the auburn-haired, hazel-eyed young girl (she was older than Skye by a few months, yet several inches shorter); though so much power was necessary, that Silbhé had gained the ability to call on Loki's own magic.

At first some had thought Silbhé to be Inhuman too, even if her name wasn't in the ledger, and neither was that of any member of her family. Once it became clear she wasn't, though, the true trouble began. The Inhumans didn't want her, their leader, Jiaying in particular seemed to hate her. The fact that she revealed herself to be Skye's mother only complicated matters further.

Skye rarely chose to ponder on what had happened during those days, it was something only her immediate family knew about, and most of them preferred not to remember it. Those had been dark days for all of them. The fact that Skye had been forced to choose between the family she'd been born with and lost in infancy, and the family she'd been with for years... At first the brunette had tried to avoid trouble, choosing to leave the Inhuman sanctuary of Afterlife with her sister; though a part of her had still hoped that a time might come when they would all be able to meet in peace.

That hadn't happened. And in the end, Skye chose the person who'd been with her for thirteen years: her beloved sister. It didn't make things any easier, though. Especially not when the whole debacle didn't end until three people had died: the Inhuman teleporter Gordon, and both of Skye's birth-parents.

Skye herself had killed Gordon, who'd been trying to murder Silbhé at the time. They'd taken advantage of a moment when the sisters had gone to help Lincoln, another Inhuman who'd become a friend during their first brief stay in Afterlife. The moment the sisters split to handle those coming at them, Gordon had taken Skye and fled, delivering her to her parents. No one had expected Silbhé to be able to call on Loki's shadow-walking for the first time and use it to get herself (and Lincoln) to Afterlife. A fight had broken out, and it had been bad.

At some point Jiaying had even moved against Skye, driven mad by her daughter's rejection (also, as Loki would explain later, Jiaying had no soul, she hadn't truly come back after being killed when Skye was a baby; her power had allowed her body to heal, but her soul was long gone). Silbhé had stepped in between the two, willing to do anything to protect her beloved sister, and then Loki's magic had turned Jiaying's own gift against her, killing her. Cal had been the last to die, in consequence of the abuse of the drug he used to enhance himself, in an attempt to keep up with everyone else. His last words to the girls had been Skye's own name, the one he'd given her upon birth, that of Daisy Johnson. It was a name the girls chose to keep, turning it into a new identity, the one she'd use as an agent; while Silbhé became Arianna Johnson.

Regarding Whitehall himself, it had been his base in the Arctic where the sisters had found Lincoln, about ten months after gaining their abilities or so. Back then they'd believed him and his men to be nothing more than a group of wannabe-HYDRA neo-nazis. It'd been until much later (after Von Strucker, and the mess in Malta, and so much more), that they'd realized he'd in fact been but one piece of a huge mess.

"He knew about..." Phil began, then rolled his eyes. "Well of course he knew about Whitehall and Von Strucker. They were all HYDRA."

"Are you sure about that?" Skye challenged lowly.

"Skye!" Phil couldn't believe the girl was really that deep in denial. "You saw what he did!"

"I did." She nodded quite calmly. "All things told, I've seen a lot more of him than you." She reminded him. "I already told you that he was the one who passed on the information about what was going to happen in Malta to us..."

"He could have been just doing it to get your trust, to use you..." Phil began.

"It didn't end there." Skye went on, ignoring him completely. "After being declared dead Mama went on to track down every lead, we needed to know who was it that wanted her and all the other world leaders dead. After almost a year, do you know where the thread lead her to?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Alexander Pierce."

"What?!" Phil almost shot to his feet in shock.

"It's true." She insisted. "But since I know you won't believe me, and those behind the glass won't either, you may ask my parents when they return."

"Your parents are presumed dead since the Winter Soldier..." Phil began in a very formal tone.

"Please!" Skye scoffed. "Have you met them?" She shook her head. "Have you heard what I've been trying to tell you over the couple of hours?" Because it'd taken her that long to explain the whole mess that had been her first year as a gifted, and the Inhumans. "We've known about this, about HYDRA, for years! Why do you think SHIELD's still standing?!"

"That's enough!" They both turned to watch Victoria Hand enter again, looking absolutely livid. "I've had it with your ridiculous tales. I always knew you gifted couldn't be trusted..."

Skye rolled her eyes, she knew how judgmental Victoria Hand could be. There was a reason the two of them had never gotten along; and why the Caterpillars never so much as set foot in the Hub unless it was absolutely necessary.

"SHIELD is standing thanks to us loyal agents, who were willing to fight and destroy the traitors, unlike you with your boy." Victoria went on, coldly. "Grant Ward is a cowardly traitor who shall be tried and dealt with as such..."

"Grant Ward is a courageous man, a loyal agent and the only reason you're still alive!" Skye practically shrieked.

"Explain yourself." Phil demanded.

Hand appeared to be much too shocked to say a word.

Skye took orders from very few people in the battlefield, but especially off it. However, the whole point in that moment, the only reason why she hadn't simply disappeared along with Grant when it'd all finally ended, was for them not to be branded as traitors. For that to be possible the truth had to come out. So she talked:

"Like I was saying before, Mama followed every lead, until she found the man who'd ordered the assassinations in Malta." Skye explained. "That man turned out to be Alexander Pierce. She was so shocked that he almost managed to kill her. But she was saved. Grant saved her."

"What was Grant Ward doing there?" Hand inquired, refusing to believe the whole story just yet.

"From what he's told me, Garrett sent him to talk about some things to Pierce." Skye answered. "This was back when Project Insight was still in its infancy. Grant revealing himself like that put him in a precarious position. Both with SHIELD and with HYDRA. My parents gave him a choice. He could disappear, or he could become a double-agent, one that would ultimately answer to no one but them."

"How many people knew of this assignment?" Phil was intrigued by that point.

"Five." The young brunette answered. "My parents, my sister, her husband and myself."

"Why all of you?" Hand still didn't trust it, or Skye.

"Because while the mission came from the Directors, Loki, Silbhé and I were the only ones who had any chance at helping Grant in an emergency." She shook her head. "The chances of that became lower when my sister got pregnant and both she and Loki chose to take leave of absence. It was necessary, though."

"When the team was formed..." Phil was beginning to understand how twisted it'd all been.

"You know already that the team was formed both to recover the remains of the Chitauri from the three battles that took place that particular day, in China, Sokovia, Russia and Puerto Rico. It was also an excuse to keep Mama on the move, away from those who insisted on believing she'd been resurrected or some such nonsense and might wish to either kidnap her or assassinate her."

Phil nodded, he'd indeed known that already.

"When Garrett proposed Grant join as the second field-agent." Melinda did not count, while she was a most talented one, for that assignment she was meant to be their pilot, and Kathryn's bodyguard if necessary. "I suspected he was planning something. We had no way of knowing how long HYDRA would wait before revealing themselves. At first Papa hadn't wanted to tell anyone outside of family. Though eventually he was forced to rely on Maria... and the Avengers found out after the Winter Soldier went after Cap, and someone else tried to kill the Starks." She wondered how anyone could be insane enough to try that. "He wanted to tell you, AC, but that wasn't the kind of thing you talk about on the phone, or through comms., it wasn't safe. And since the whole point was us staying away from possible HYDRA groups, we couldn't meet him in any of the bases. There was a plan for meeting with the excuse of Rose's christening, but then it all went down and there was no more time."

Phil nodded, he could understand that. And he was glad to know that he hadn't been left out due to a lack of trust. It was just how things had happened.

"Why did you wait for HYDRA to act, instead of going after them?" Hand wanted to know.

"Because we didn't know how many were actually HYDRA." Skye answered with a sigh, the woman still didn't get it. "You must have realized already that Garrett had a few loose screws, at the very least. He wasn't very high on the food-chain, so to speak; and while Grant tried his best to uncover other people who might be HYDRA, it was risky business. Any wrong move could have caused him to be discovered."

There a few more questions coming from both senior agents, mostly technical things, as well as confirmation on the things that had happened during the days she'd spent with Grant, Garrett and their group. Skye answered all she could, though she carefully avoided telling them more than absolutely necessary regarding what had happened on the last day. She hated even thinking about it. Ever so slowly Coulson began accepting that maybe things really were complicated, and Grant Ward wasn't really a traitor, Hand was harder to convince.

"He was given carte blanche." The younger agent stated bluntly when she ran out of patience.

"What?!" That had been unexpected, and hard to swallow.

"In order to keep cover, to get all he could, Grant was given carte blanche, with the guarantee that he wouldn't be persecuted for any crimes he committed in the fulfillment of his mission." Skye chose her words very carefully.

"Why didn't he kill me then?" Hand challenged.

"Because I was there." Skye admitted, voice suddenly very soft. "Grant was... afraid, of what I might think of him. In the end, we found another way."

"You threw me off a plane!" Hand snapped, that was still a sore spot for her.

"You're still alive, aren't you?" Skye snapped, testily. "You wouldn't have been with a bullet to your heart. So, the way I see it, this was a much better option."

Victoria really had nothing to say to that.

"Why did you do it?" Phil asked finally.

It was probably the question he wanted most to have an answer for, yet he hadn't dared ask it until that moment; not sure if he would be able to deal with the answer.

"Because Grant needed me more than you or anyone else in the team needed me." The young woman answered simply.

In the back of her head a phrase rang sharply. _...my friend, my lover, my partner, my match..._

 **xXx**

Eventually the 'interrogation' was considered to be over and Skye was lead to a temporary bunk to 'await a decision'. She knew Hand and Coulson would want to confirm everything she'd revealed to them, which mostly wouldn't be possible until her parents returned from whatever hide-hole they'd chosen to get themselves to after the mess in DC. The most likely possibilities being the girls' apartment in Vermont (where they'd lived while attending Norwich University), or Salani manor in Wales, if they decided they ought to leave the country (the one in Maine wasn't an option, since Silbhé, Loki and little baby Rose were living there).

Skye knew she could leave, the moment she chose to. It wasn't like anyone really had the power to stop her. And if she were to call on her brother he wouldn't even ask questions, just get her out, and Grant too if she were but to ask. Only, she was an Agent of SHIELD, they both were. They had done a great many things people wouldn't understand, but they were still agents, and still loyal, and they wouldn't ruin that as long as they had a chance at making things work.

So, since she didn't have anything else to do, Skye chose to lay on her bunk and look over her own memories; everything that concerned the love of her existence...

After Malta, and especially after the death of Alexander Pierce, Skye had grown somewhat obsessed with Grant Ward; who he might be, and how he'd come to be in exactly the right place, at the perfect time to save her Mama. They knew already about HYDRA, and about John Garrett, but that just wasn't enough for Skye. She'd used all her hacking abilities, as well as her high-clearance as one of the leaders of the Caterpillars to find out all she could.

Silbhé had been the one to realize how obsessed she'd become, and probably also the first to see the true reason behind it (before Skye herself). The brunette remembered that her sister never tried to stop her, in the end all she said was:

" _Be careful with him, Skye."_

More than once Skye had wondered if she ought to be careful for herself, or for him. And it was that, as the brown-eyed found through her research, Grant Ward was 'broken' in many ways. The family life he'd had, and the things John had done to him... it'd taken months for Skye to get him to trust her enough to tell her the truth about his life; and then she'd realized it was much, much worse than what she'd been able to find out and deduce during her research (and one day she was going to make Christian Ward pay, dearly, for his part in all of it).

In any case, after her initial research (and stalking, according to Clint, Natasha and even Loki). The true first step had been given in a most unexpected way:

 _The Caterpillars were having a break after their most recent mission, Mike was resting, Wanda was recovering from some minor wounds, while Pietro took the chance to scare some of the newer recruits until he got tired enough to sleep as well, Melinda had already taken off to spend the weekend with Andrew, while her siblings were having some quality time of their own in their private rooms. Skye was too wound-up to sleep or even watch TV, and none of her usual sparring partners were free, so that wasn't an option either (not just anyone was willing to spar with her). She was wandering around the base, trying to think of something, when she saw him._

 _It was Grant, and he looked like hell. Not only because part of his face seemed to be darkening with a number of bruises, and there was a scabbed-over cut on his left eyebrow, but there was just an air about him... it looked like defeat. Whatever mission he'd just returned from, it'd gone badly, she just knew it._

" _Hey..." She whispered, approaching him._

 _She didn't ask him if he was alright, she wasn't the kind to ask stupid questions._

" _Hey," He replied, not quite looking at her. "I'm afraid I'm not good company right now, Daisy."_

 _Until then he only knew her by her agent name._

" _I realize that." The idea came to her quite unexpectedly. "Want a drink?"_

" _I doubt Hunter would appreciate us taking his beer..." Grant dismissed._

 _There was also the fact that he doubted all the beer in the man's stash would be enough to get his mind off whatever had gone wrong..._

" _I have something stronger in my room, if you're willing..." She offered._

 _She did, actually. A bottle of very good vodka she'd won from Natasha and Clint in a bet (the contents of which were never to be disclosed)._

 _There was no way of knowing what exactly made Grant accept her invitation._

The next morning they'd woken naked on Skye's bunk, entangled in each other and the sheets, more than half the bottle of vodka gone. Skye was the first to wake, and while she was certainly feeling it, it wasn't as bad as she imagined Grant would be feeling (Natasha had taught her to drink, after all). The brunette had briefly considered leaving before Grant woke, not wanting to deal with the 'awkward morning after' syndrome, as she called it. Yet she knew that if she did that she might be ruining whatever improvement she might have made (she still had no idea what had made him accept her invitation in the first place!). So in the end, she stayed.

To the day it was one of the best decisions she'd made in her life. Right up there with the times when she'd chosen to make first Silbhé and then Loki her siblings (they'd actually gone through an ancient ceremony, Asgardian, which made them blood-siblings).

That was the start to what was definitely not an easy relationship in any sense. Grant and her were in love, hard as it could be for some people to understand, but they couldn't make it public. They couldn't because he had a mission, a secret, very dangerous mission, working as a double-agent within HYDRA. If their relationship were to be made public she would be in danger; she also would become his pressure point, and that was something they couldn't allow. The stakes were simply too high.

So instead they kept it a secret. Modified phones, secure lines, coded calls every so often. And, when the opportunity arose, they'd meet in secret for a day or a weekend; the apartment in Vermont, a safe-house only the family knew about, or when there was no other option, a motel. They always made sure no one followed them, that no one would suspect. It wasn't an easy way to live, but it was worth it, because they loved each other more than anyone and anything else:

" _Nobody's watching." She would tell him every time. "It's just you and me."_

The hardest moment during their relationship was probably when the chitauri had attacked. As a Caterpillar she'd been in San Juan, part of the main battle. It was she who took down the Kursed, the monster blocking them from reaching the leader of the chitauri. It hadn't been easy, she'd been forced to call on a lot of power, and while she'd achieved her objective and destroyed the creature, the fact that it shattered into pieces had also worked against her as she'd been thrown off several feet and ended with some serious shrapnel wounds to her flank. While the wound wasn't actually fatal, she'd still lost enough blood to lose consciousness. She'd woken hours after the battle was over, in Stark Tower (where they'd been moved to recover after the mess was over and the battle won) having been treated by Galen, an Inhuman healer Lincoln and Raina (the leaders of the Inhuman Tribe since she'd chosen to leave rather than 'take her place' as Jiaying's daughter and heiress) had sent to help them.

Both she and her sister had come close to dying in the battle (a building had actually fallen over Nightingale, and it was nothing short of a miracle... and Loki, that she hadn't died); and while Silbhé and Loki seemed to be practically glued to each other for a while afterward, as they reassured themselves of the other's well-being... Skye couldn't do that. She could see Grant standing on the background, like a concerned colleague, but they couldn't get close enough to even touch. After all, as far as everyone but her family knew, they weren't friends, they barely even knew each other!

It was her greatest fear, the chance that someday something might happen to him and she would not know, because no one would know to tell her. Because as far as most people knew, they were nothing to each other...

It'd taken a while, some creative programming and a lot of convincing (of Tony Stark, JARVIS, her family and even Grant himself), but eventually she managed to make arrangements to meet with him safely...

 _She'd been standing by the huge glass-window, that was more like a wall and took one full side of her room, when he'd arrived:_

" _Are you sure this is a good idea?" He called in a husky voice, standing just inside the room, the door having already closed behind him. "I thought we weren't supposed to meet anywhere that hadn't been completely secured by all of you."_

" _We've secured this place." Skye informed him calmly, without moving from beside the window, eyes on the city outside. "I warned both Stark and JARVIS the moment I learnt we were staying here for an indeterminate amount of time. The moment you pressed our floor number my programs kicked in. I get the dump of all the feeds in this floor, not Stark." She couldn't help but smile. "So, he has you entering the elevator, he can probably guess what floor you ended up on, since you disappeared and all that… but it's not like there isn't a perfectly good reason for you to be here. Everyone who helped us in San Juan has been by to see us at least once; or if not Silbhé and I, they've come to see mama, to see if she's truly alive…"_

 _Because Kathryn had been so worried about both her daughters she'd left the safety of her safe-house to go see them. It was how the news of her survival had come out, and why it'd eventually been necessary for her to be moved around so HYDRA wouldn't be able to get her._

" _I wasn't expecting that one." He admitted quietly, finally walking into the room._

" _None of us were." She assured him._

" _It might make things harder in the long run." Grant pointed out._

" _It might." Skye agreed. "But we'll deal with it." She shrugged. "In any case, I didn't call you here to talk about my mother, or about your secret mission, I called you here…"_

 _That was about as far as the Caterpillar got with her rant, as she suddenly found herself being spun around and immediately afterwards pressed against the wall, right beside the window, a pair of strong hands holding her in place as a mouth practically ravaged hers._

 _The reaction was immediate as the brown-eyed girl wound her arms around the black-haired man's neck, kissing him for all she was worth. She'd hated having to see him standing at the back of the groups, unable to approach, unable to touch. She'd almost died… both Silbhé and her almost had, and while her sister had the comfort of having her match by her side, his hand seemingly always in hers… Skye couldn't have the same. Couldn't because the love of her life was working a top-secret mission (so top-secret there were no records of it anywhere, and only five people even knew the mission even existed). He was a great agent, and one day he'd probably be a hero… but in that moment the brunette hated that she couldn't just go to him and kiss him silly whenever she wanted. It was extremely frustrating._

 _Hopefully that would come to an end someday… hopefully the mission would end and they'd be alright, finally allowed to walk in public hand in hand, to kiss if they so wished, to have the world see how much they loved each other…_

" _Robot…" The nickname came out of the gifted girl's lips in a half-groan, half-moan as his mouth sucked on her neck, her whole body growing hotter at the contact._

" _There's that blasted nickname again." He pretended to be annoyed, though she couldn't help but think he just looked too cute. "You'll never let go of it, will you?"_

" _No." She smiled mischievously at him, knowing he didn't mind the nickname as much as he pretended to. Still her voice turned a tad more solemn, and a lot more heartfelt as she added. "I'm never letting you go."_

 _No, Skye was never letting go of Grant, of her Robot. It was hard enough, for their relationship to be what it was in that moment, a secret that at times seemed even more tightly guarded than his mission as a double-agent. Except she hoped (they all did) that his mission would come to an end someday, and in that same vein came the hope that their relationship wouldn't, ever._

A lot had changed after the Chitauri invasion, and not everything because of it, not exactly. In a matter of six months the Caterpillars had pretty much disintegrated. Mike Peterson taking leave to be closer to his son (apparently Ace had been acting out, he was a teenager who needed his father to be around more often), the twins being asked to spend some time with the X-Men; and then there was Silbhé's high-risk pregnancy, which had prompted both her and Loki to file for their own leave off absence (there was no way they were risking the baby, or Silbhé). And just like that, Skye and Melinda were all that was left of the Caterpillars.

It was about that point where Nick Fury had decided that in order to keep his wife safe (there had been a number of kidnap and assassination attempts, from people wanting to either get rid of the Sphinx for good, or wanting to find out how she'd gone from 'presumed dead' to 'perfectly alive') she would need to stay away from SHIELD HQs. So a new team was formed, tasked with recovering the remains of the alien armies (some of which were already being moved through the black market); with the side mission of keeping Kathryn safe. It was formed by Kathryn (leader), Phil (SIC), Melinda (pilot and Kathryn's bodyguard), Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons (the science experts), and finally Daisy Johnson and Grant Ward (field agents).

They'd known from the start that John Garrett was planning something, pushing for Grant to be part of his team; even though they hadn't the slightest idea of how he found out about it. Still, they knew there was no reason to reject the young man (and a part of Skye wanted to believe that it was her parents' way of helping her, helping them both be closer, even if they couldn't truly be together, not yet).

Eventually it'd all come to a head. In some ways it'd begun right after the chitauri battle, with the message Lincoln had left them with, a message sent by Raina:

" _Out of the shadows and into the light, the seven headed snake will rise. The Knight and the Princess, together the darkness will fight, warriors in gray against a centennial enemy's might. Bullets and blades, blood and tears, only the Songstress's favor can change the dark tide."_

There had been a lot they didn't understand from that message, much as it sounded like a prophecy. At that point all they could really do was prepare themselves, be ready to act when the moment came...

Then, while in China, another exchange, a warning, and a chance:

 _The visit to China had gone quite well. The Inhumans had made sure to keep all the remains of the Chitauri protected until SHIELD could collect them, making sure others wouldn't be hurt or affected by them. It'd also been a chance for the team to learn more about Skye, about her history. They'd all accepted her._

 _They were leaving when Raina approached Skye unexpectedly._

" _What is it?" The brown-eyed girl inquired, she didn't even need to look at the older Inhuman to know there was something she really wanted to say._

" _The day you've been both expecting and dreading is coming." Raina stated without delay. "You know what it is I speak of."_

" _I know." Skye nodded quietly, unable to keep her eyes from straying in the direction of a certain someone, standing by the ramp into the Zephyr One. "Will he be alright?"_

" _You worry for his life but not yours?" Raina asked, though they both already knew the answer, still, it needed to be said._

" _He's my life." Skye stated without hesitation._

" _Then know that when the time comes, when you feel like you're about to drown, all you need to do is call out, your plea will be answered."_

 _Raina didn't say anymore, nor did she give a chance for Skye to ask any questions, request any sort of clarification, she had already turned around and was walking away by the time the words had fully registered in the mind of one at least some of the Inhumans still saw as their rightful ruler, their Queen._

The mission to a certain estate in South Italy had given them Ian Quinn, finally, but at the same time it'd set in motion other things. After failing time and again to get to Kathryn, someone had apparently decided the next best option was to push Fury into having to bring someone else back. For whatever the reason they'd chosen Skye, had given Quinn the order to shoot her, to kill her...

The bastard actually managed to catch her enough by surprise that she was shot. And that was were things truly got dicey, because the bullet did nothing to her. A second later she'd used her powers to disassemble the gun and knock Quinn out; but by then the damage was done already (of course most people wouldn't realize what was that had protected her; hardly anyone knew that the medallion hanging from her neck was more than a pretty accessory, having been charged with every possible spell for her protection by both of her siblings).

They'd spent that night in a hotel at Kathryn's insistence after Quinn was picked up to be taken to the Fridge. She'd claimed they all deserved some true rest; Skye'd wondered if she realized what was coming... In any case, she'd taken advantage of the opportunity, slipping secretly into Grant's bedroom. They'd spent the night together.

 _After sharing a bath and making love tenderly for what had seemed like hours they'd laid on the bed together, listening to one of her favorite songs play on her phone:_

" _Baby, you're all I need  
Come now, set me free  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire  
Breathless, I can't resist  
Melt with your scarlet kiss  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire." _

" _You're my wildfire..." Grant whispered huskily into her ear._

 _He fell asleep not long afterwards,with his arms around Skye (alarm set to allow her to wake up and return to her room before the rest of the team was up). He didn't know that, before sleep could claim her, words had left Skye's lips:_

" _I promise you that from this day on, you will be my only one. I shall look at no other the way I look at you, I shall think of no other the way I think about you, I shall talk to no other the way I talk to you, I shall desire no other the way I desire you, and I shall lay with no other the way I lay with you. I shall be with no other for you are now and forever shall be my one and only; my friend, my lover, my partner, my match…"_

It happened days later. As a message appeared on every SHIELD screen: 'Out of the Shadows. Into the Light. HYDRA.' All Hell broke loose.

Things didn't go like those from HYDRA had probably been expecting. SHIELD wasn't an easy target, and not only because at least a few knew what was coming and were ready to face the trouble head on, but also because a lot of people were more loyal, and far braver than many would have believed. Agents refused to stand aside, to back down; instead they fought, fiercely; and they prevailed.

Still, not all was easy. When the trouble started the team had decided to go to ground, taking refuge in Providence, one of Fury's top secret bases on Northern Canada. They'd been there when Garrett chose to make his move, summoning Grant to him. And Grant had to go, for the sake of the mission, which had just reached its critical stage.

 _The shock had been evident in everyone, as Grant used his gun (an ICER) to knock out Coulson, Triplett and Koenig. FitzSimmons had been immobile, terrified; while Melinda was furious, yet didn't dare move against Grant, as she kept herself in between him and Kathryn, just in case. She was also probably angry when Skye wouldn't attack him. Even then, no one was expecting it when the young woman finally stepped forward, what she actually did:_

" _Wait!" She called abruptly._

" _You coming with us?" Grant drawled._

 _She knew he'd meant it as a joke, and yet she'd already made up her mind by then._

" _Yes." She announced, going to stand beside him._

" _What?!"_

 _Melinda had snapped at that point, throwing herself at both of them, only to have Skye turn her powers on her, throwing her teammate to a side. The whole thing seemed to terrify FitzSimmons deeply, neither of them noticing the look the girl directed at her mother before joining hands with Ward and leaving the base with him._

It hadn't been planned, not at all. Though at the same time, it was an idea Skye had been toying with, in the darkest corner of her mind, for a while. Especially with the things Raina had told her. Grant was going to go against HYDRA, against the bastard John Garrett... he needed to have someone in his corner, and she would be that someone.

They met with the man when he was on his way to take over the Hub, on a plane with Victoria Hand, whom he ordered Ward to kill, the moment they were on. Grant had only looked at her, hesitating for long seconds. Fury had given him carte blanche, he was authorized to do whatever was necessary to keep his cover until they were sure they had everyone Garrett was connected to. Even then, he didn't want her to look at him and see a murderer.

So he'd spun a tale, making it seem like a great idea to throw Hand off the quinjet they were on, let her fall to the sea and drown; it wasn't like she would survive. And there was really no point on staining their nice plane with her blood... Garret hadn't known of the tracking bracelet Skye had slipped on the half-unconscious woman's wrist, she'd be found by their allies.

That part had gone to plan, almost too well, in fact. So much that they were still working on taking over the Hub when Colonel Talbot had arrived with his own men, making the mess much bigger, and worse. In the end they'd had to run. Skye had actually helped engineer their escape, with some creative hacking, which allowed her to earn her place in the group.

Even then, it wasn't to last. It took nearly a full week for Garrett to realize he was being played, but in the end he wasn't really that much of a fool. After having almost all his ops fail in the most unexpected ways. And when they'd actually come face to face with Adler's team, not only had the two of them failed to shoot at them, but Skye had actually used her powers to take down the person who'd dared shoot at Fitz (missing his head by less than an inch). The whole thing had also distracted Skye enough she hadn't seen the attack coming her way before she blacked out.

 _She woke up in what looked like a derelict warehouse (and it most likely was exactly that, aside from being Garret's version of a safe-house). Garret towering above her. Grant was standing beside him, looking like it was taking all his will not to blow his cover and be done with it._

" _So...What have we here?" Garret drawled darkly. "You're an interesting one. Gifted, yet I know for a fact you're not in SHIELD's Index... and why might that be? Then again, none of the other freaks with the Avengers and the worms were... at first I'd thought you to be one of the so-called Elites." He snorted. "But you're not, are you? No, you're one of the freaks."_

 _Skye chose not to deign that with an answer._

" _Seeing how you just ruined my chance at getting the formula I need to survive, you'll be the one to pay for it." Garrett decided._

 _Skye thought it was absolutely idiotic. John Garrett was dying (had been dying for over twenty years, technically), and at some point he'd come to believe that SHIELD had some kind of serum that would restore him, one that could raise the dead... It would be hilarious if it weren't so seriously insane. Didn't the man know the kind of things that tended to happen when humans tried to play with higher-powers, with matters of life and death? Didn't he know about Dr. Connors? The Lizard? The mess in New York that had ended with Spider-Man (and that was a whole other mess...). And of course, later there had been the Green Goblin; and really, Garret was already insane, she didn't want to imagine what a serum like the goblin's would do to him. Thought that did not explain what he wanted her for..._

" _I've read Whitehall's research, he got his health and his youth back." Garret stated, a maniacal glint in his eyes. "And you will help me achieve the same."_

 _Skye paled drastically as she realized what he meant. The memory of Jiaying, of what her mother had become because of Whitehall, it struck a chord deep inside her._

" _You can help me by your own will or against it. It means the same to me." He announced as he drew a gun (a real one, with actual bullets) and pointed it at her. "In any case, you're of no more use to me if you won't even go against my enemies..." He half turned to Grant. "I'm sorry son, I know you wanted the little bitch for yourself, but this is how things have to be. I'm the one who makes the rules here. You know that..."_

" _NO!" Grant roared, throwing himself at Garret. "You're not touching her!"_

 _A fight broke out. It was an absolute mess. Skye had taken a moment to send a coded SOS to her Mama before drawing her ICER and beginning to shoot against Garret's followers (all who hadn't been arrested by SHIELD in the last few days, were right there in that moment)._

 _The confrontation had been long and tiring, only made worse when Skye ran out of ammo. They decided to make a run for it. Hoping that once out of the warehouse they'd stand more of a chance (it wouldn't have been a good idea for her to use her powers when they could cause the building to fall on them too)... she never saw the bullet coming._

 _She didn't see it, but Grant did. He did and he stepped in its path without the slightest moment of hesitation. The bullet hit him just bellow the shoulder, going straight into his upper lung. He went down, falling heavily right behind her making her stop cold in fear and horror._

" _GRANT!" Skye's wail could probably be heard for miles around._

 _Some would also later say that the earth itself had cried out with her._

 _Garrett tried to get closer to her then, not realizing the danger he was in. Up to that moment she hadn't wanted to kill anyone, so she'd only used the ICER, and her powers not at all. Even what Garret had seen her do, she'd barely thrown someone to a side, nothing too serious. In that moment, when she saw him approaching, every cell in her body was screaming at her to fight back, to protect her match, to make the bastard pay for ever hurting him. She didn't even try to restrain herself, letting her full power lose for the second time in her life. In the end, there was nothing left of John Garrett, not even ashes, his body completely annihilated, much like Gordon's had been, years before..._

 _Her violent use of power also have the side effect of bringing the warehouse down, either killing or seriously injuring everyone inside (which, thankfully, didn't include the two of them)._

 _The moment it was done she could feel the exhaustion filling her rapidly, yet she refused to allow it to take her over. Instead pushing herself until she was kneeling beside her beloved, who was still semi-conscious, fighting for every breath._

" _I love you..." She heard him whisper through blood-tinted lips._

 _It was the first time those words had ever left his lips, he'd never dared say them before; and in that moment she knew, without a doubt, that without a miracle they would never get the chance to live their love the way they deserved to, out of the shadows, in the light._

 _And then she remembered Raina's words, that day in China, and the message she'd sent through Lincoln months before... she hadn't understood it when the words had been said, but in that moment she did, she raised chocolate eyes to the sky and called with all her strength:_

" _Sister!"_

Skye sat up on the bunk-bed abruptly, breathing ragged as she fought to finish pulling herself back to the present. She hadn't expected to get so lost in her own memories, that last one still hurt her as much as when Grant had first fallen from that bullet; there had actually been a moment when she'd feared he wouldn't survive...

And then her dear sister had stepped out of a shadow, wielding a power she hadn't known her to possess, that of healing. She'd saved Grant's life that day; and in many ways she'd saved Skye's own as well.

It took a few seconds, but eventually Skye realized what it was that had helped pull her to reality. It'd been just the horror of the memory, but also the knock on the door. She called to the one the other side, only to get the answer she'd been waiting for all along... her parents had arrived.

 **xXx**

" _I don't regret what I've done." Grant had told her._

" _You don't?" She wasn't sure if he was being honest, or just trying to calm her._

" _Not if it means you're safe." He'd assured._

 _Those words, that conversation, they'd marked her. It was then she'd made up her own mind. She'd do what was necessary to keep her beloved safe, and she wouldn't regret it either. She would honor him as much as he honored her._

That memory was predominantly in her mind as she stood outside near the edge of a private airstrip, while she'd been taken away from the SHIELD base the same day her parents had appeared; it'd taken a couple more days to get them to release her beloved. Eventually she could see the four armed agents approaching, in the middle of their formation was Grant Ward. He looked a little worse for wear, but nothing serious (then again, her own lip was still a bit bloody, but she couldn't bring herself to care in that moment).

"Skye..." He breathed out the moment he laid eyes on her.

The agents looked more than a bit tense as they were escorting him, as if he were going to turn and murder them all at any moment. Skye thought it was absolutely ridiculous.

"Agent Johnson." The leader of the group called to her. "We've been ordered to release the prisoner into your custody."

It was quite obvious, by the tone to his words, what he thought about such orders... and about the both of them too.

"You've been ordered to release Agent Ward, and he will be coming with me." Skye corrected, probably a bit more coldly than absolutely necessary. "Grant Ward is no prisoner, and no traitor, regardless of what you might wish to think."

At least two of the men bristled, but neither dared say a word. By that point everyone had heard how the Directors of SHIELD had arrived, loudly demanding that Agent Johnson be released immediately, demanding explanations to why she was being treated as a prisoner, when she was one of the most loyal agents. No one knew exactly where Grant Ward stood in everything; though rumors had been circulating around that his supposed betrayal had been nothing more than a ruse in order to draw out the last HYDRA factions (a plan that, in the end, had succeeded, impossible as it had seemed at times).

Nothing else was said to the minions (as Skye called them sometimes) and the pair just walked away; Grant completely tense at the looks everyone on base kept directing at him.

"It's okay, I understand." She whispered to him as she lead him to his bike. "Feeling like you do right now. It's only natural."

"I feel like they betrayed me, though I'm the one that betrayed them." He pointed out.

"You did what you had to, we both did." Skye reminded him quietly.

"You didn't have to." He began.

"I did." She stated strongly. "I wasn't about to let you go alone."

"You wouldn't have been in so much danger if you had."

"And then you might have died. I'm quite alright with how things turned out in the end."

"It could have been much worse. We really shouldn't let our emotions control us."

"You can't choose not to feel."

"Usually I can. It's different with us." He let out a breath. "I've never been able to not feel, when it comes to you."

"That's because you feel too much." Skye murmured quietly even as she blushed at his words.

"From the very start, I wanted to stay focused..." He insisted. "And then I saw you."

She didn't mention that they were a match, about the words she'd pronounced purposefully the last night they'd had together, in that small hotel, in Italy, what it all meant... the time for that would come. The mission was finally done. They had survived, had won, against all odds. They had all the time in the world.

 **xXx**

The couple rode Grant's bike across the small town seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He didn't quite know where they were going, just following her instructions, until they made it to what looked like the entrance to some old-style ranch. It looked mostly austere, except for the electric gate that opened the moment they got close enough.

"Where are we?" He asked softly as they reached the huge house.

"Welcome to the Cocoon!" She called brightly as she got off the bike.

"The Cocoon...?" Grant inquired, getting off the bike and taking off his helmet. "This is a SHIELD base?"

"It was... technically." She answered, thinking it over. "But not anymore."

They were distracted when they finally entered the main part of the house, by the auburn-haired, hazel-eyed young woman who rushed at Skye, both girls throwing their arms around each other, embracing tightly:

"I missed you so much!" The smaller girl breathed out.

Grant looked to the side to see a tall, black-haired, green-eyed man that had just followed the woman, in his arms was a little red-haired baby in an off-white dress. It took a moment, but soon Grant realized who those people were: Agent Arianna Johnson, the Nightingale and Agent Luke Serrure, the Maverick; the latter who also happened to be the god of mischief, Loki.

"Oh, right!" Skye cried out, rushing to his side and pulling at his arm. "Come meet my family, properly this time." because they all had to agree a brief meeting to discuss a top-secret mission was no way of meeting anyone. "This is my sister, everyone in SHIELD knows her as Arianna, but her name is Silbhé. Her husband, Loki." She let his hand go as she scooped the baby into her arms. "And this little beauty is my beloved niece: Rose Alfdis!"

Grant extended a hand tentatively in the direction of the baby, unsure of how she might react to him, only to have a little hand take hold of one of his fingers the moment he got close enough. The moment the baby looked at him, brown eyes (that seemed to almost glint orange and red) fixed on him, he could have almost sworn the baby was truly looking at him, and through him. Except, that wasn't possible, was it? She was just a baby, barely a few weeks old... then again, she was a demi-goddess, so who knew?

That was just the beginning of the little reunion, as soon enough they were joined by Kathryn, Melinda (Skye actually moved away from him for a few minutes to go talk to her, settle matters after the way they'd left Providence), Mike, the Maximoff twins and two people Grant hadn't known before: Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) and his fiancée Gwen Stacy.

"What am I doing here?" He asked at some point.

"The plan worked." It was Kathryn who got down to business. "Thanks in no small part to you. HYDRA has been dealt with, hopefully for good this time. SHIELD is still standing. However, there were consequences. The organization no longer has the standing its used to. The world now knows even SHIELD isn't all-powerful, all-seeing, isn't invulnerable to attacks and betrayals. It will take a while before all governments are as open to us as they used to be." She shook her head. "However, that doesn't mean they don't need our protection as much as they always have."

Grant nodded, still not seeing where she was going.

"The people no longer trust SHIELD as an organization, but after the things they've seen some of the heroes do, they will trust them." Loki added for good measure. "The Avengers... and the Caterpillars."

"Exactly." The sisters agreed in tandem.

And suddenly Grant got it. The people all around him, they were the Caterpillars, all of them. The old team was being reformed, though...

"Why am I here?" Grant insisted. "I'm not even a SHIELD Agent anymore. I'm just a civilian."

Much as he might hate to admit it; he'd been military and then agent, had been in action for so long he didn't quite know how to live as a civilian anymore.

"It's true that you're no longer a SHIELD Agent, but that wasn't because we thought ill of you in any way." Kathryn clarified. "Your loyalties were proven beyond shadow of doubt. And while there are some, like Victoria, who might never accept it; there are many agents who know what you did and understand it. Who can see the truth. No, in the end your dismissal from the ranks of SHIELD was due to a whole different reason."

He waited for her to explain further, but she didn't, and then he noticed all the eyes elsewhere, and followed them. Silbhé Salani/Arianna Johnson/the Nightingale was standing in front of him. Grant watched her quietly, this was the woman that had saved his life, after Garrett shot him, he knew that, she was also the most beloved sister of the woman he loved and...

"We would like to offer you a place in our team." She stated seriously.

It took him a second or two for him to fully process what had just been said, and even then he had trouble believing it.

"We could use a man of your talents, and your loyalty." Melinda agreed.

He saw it then, she'd forgiven him, forgiven him and Skye both. He wondered what it was Skye had told her, or if maybe it'd been Kathryn who'd explained things to her after the two of them had left Providence...

"We have a long, hard path ahead of us, but I believe we can do this, together." Silbhé went on, offering her hand to him. "What say you, Agent Ward?"

"He will need a code-name..." Pietro could be heard murmuring in the background.

"We can handle that later, now shush!" Wanda chastised him quietly.

"It would be an honor." He said, finally, standing up and taking the offered hand.

"Then welcome to the Caterpillars."

And just like that, his whole life changed, again.

 **xXx**

They spent the rest of the day celebrating. According to them the next day would be soon enough to begin intensive training, getting ready for the missions to come. It was also a chance for him to get to know his new team better. He got to hear a lot of stories that day:

Like the one of how the Caterpillars had arrived to New York, looking to help with the Lizard problem, too late to really deal with him, though right on time to meet the young Spider-Man, and to save the life of the police captain George Stacy (Gwen's father) who'd been grievously injured while helping the teen-aged hero.

And it hadn't ended there either. After the madness with the Green Goblin, and then Dr. Octopus Peter and Gwen had been considered unofficial members of the Caterpillars; though orders had been given for them not to be on any missions until they were done with college, which had only happened that same month. Just in time.

He also learnt more of Skye's childhood as the adopted daughter of Nick Fury and Kathryn Adler, sister to Silbhé Kinross-Salani. How Loki had come into their lives, first a friend, and later on Silbhé's match and Skye's brother. Everything he'd done for them both... and how he'd gone from second prince of Asgard to self-exiled prince (the only people in Asgard who knew his current whereabouts were Lady Frigg, Thor and Sif) and Caterpillar.

Though the one that stayed with him the most was the one about Bahrain, the mission where the name Cavalry came to be. About how Melinda had met the sisters, before the Caterpillars ever existed. How the the three women had gone inside a house, to deal with what was supposed to be one but turned out to be two gifted. The magic Silbhé had used to preserve the life of one and the sanity of many... and how the actions of all but Melinda were kept secret, in order to protect the sisters (which was how the legend behind the origin of the Cavalry had gotten so big and even a tad insane at times). The events of that day were also the reason why Melinda had asked Fury to transfer her into a team with the Johnson sisters. And so the Caterpillars began...

After some light dinner someone had turned on a radio and while some small groups had been formed, people talking about the months they'd been apart, several of the girls were absolutely fascinated with little Rose. And then a certain song came up:

"We were going way too fast  
Chasing down the hourglass  
Running from the past  
Heading out with no direction  
A kerosene beauty queen  
Looking for her matchstick king  
To burn in to my heart  
Hand in to the flame  
We could set the world ablaze cause"

"Baby, you're all I need  
Come now, set me free  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire  
Breathless, I can't resist  
Melt with your scarlet kiss  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire"

Skye was standing at a side, watching everyone, her family, enjoying themselves. She hadn't been so happy, so much at peace in what felt like a very long time. It only got better when she felt a certain pair of strong arms wrap around her waist from behind.

"Hey..." A male, husky voice whispered into her ear.

"Hey..." She whispered back, taking hold of his arms, as if to strengthen their hold.

"It's so odd." He commented unexpectedly.

"What is?" She inquired, curious.

"I don't think I've felt like this ever before." He admitted quietly, so only she could hear. "There's just so much... peace."

She smiled, delighted to be able to give him that. To give him the love, and possibly the family he wanted and had always deserved.

And then he began whispering something else, so quiet it took her several seconds to actually process what it was he was saying; and when she did, the shock was so great she froze:

"I promise you that from this day on, you will be my only one. I shall look at no other the way I look at you, I shall think of no other the way I think about you, I shall talk to no other the way I talk to you, I shall desire no other the way I desire you, and I shall lay with no other the way I lay with you. I shall be with no other for you are now and forever shall be my one and only; my friend, my lover, my partner, my match…"

"Grant..." She murmured hoarsely, not quite knowing what to say.

"I heard you." He explained. "That night. I didn't understand it then. But I've talked to Loki and Silbhé, they told me what it means."

Skye was speechless. He knew what she'd done, what those words truly meant, and he'd still said them back... she might have no magic at all, but she could feel the moment the bonds between them doubled and settled. It was amazing...

She knew her siblings had married using the Ancient Vows, had known the consequences of pronouncing them (the whole 'to the end of time'), the reason why so few, even among the immortal ever used them. Yet she'd never imagined it could feel like that, like the missing piece of her heart and soul was finally where it belonged, she was finally whole... like everything was absolutely perfect.

"I look into your sunset eyes  
Waiting for the moon to rise  
So I can feel your heat  
This love is so completely crazy  
You've been fucking with my dreams  
Ripped me like your torn up jeans  
I don't even care  
You can take me there  
You can set my world ablaze 'cause"

"Baby, you're all I need  
Come now, set me free  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire  
Breathless, I can't resist  
Melt with your scarlet kiss  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire"

Around the room a few people were aware of what had happened, what had changed. Wanda could sense it, though she wasn't fully aware what it meant; Peter could sense magic in the air, but had no idea to know what had caused it; Rose let out a loud giggle, as if showing her own approval for the developments.

Loki and Silbhé were the only ones who knew exactly what had just happened, and while she was absolutely delighted by it, Loki couldn't help but grumble.

"That's not how it's supposed to be done, you know?" He told his own match quietly. "To just say those vows, with no ceremony, no witnesses."

"They have witnesses." His beloved reminded him. "We're right here. And besides, the point is that they're together now, and nothing will ever separate them again, not time, or space, not even death. It's the same reason we pronounce those vows, remember."

"She still should have had a wedding." Her Sorcerer insisted.

"And she will, in due time." His Nightingale stated. "Or do you honestly believe Papa Nick will let her go without having the chance to walk her down the aisle... and to threaten him with all kinds of torture and death?"

Loki actually chuckled at that, mentally planning on the best threats to issue; Skye was his sister, after all. They might not have always believed those two were truly meant to be together, but they'd proven they had what it took. They'd endured, and fought, and won...

"Baby tell me where you wanna run, run  
Cause I've been burning like the morning sun  
Take my hand, you can burn this city with me  
Play me like your first guitar  
Where every single notes too hard  
I don't even care  
You can take me there  
We can set the world on fire"

"Baby, you're all I need  
Come now, set me free  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire  
Breathless, I can't resist  
Melt with your scarlet kiss  
Like a wildfire, like a wildfire"

Skye and Grant were practically swaying to the rhythm of the music in their corner. No one so much as turned to look at them. They knew how hard things had been for them, they deserved to have their moment.

Grant pressed kisses to Skye's hair, her cheek, her ear, her neck, her shoulder, over and over again; only pausing to whisper one more thing straight into her ear:

"You're my wildfire..."

Beyond anything else she might have been, and might one day be, Skye was Grant's wildfire, and she'd always be...

* * *

So, what do you think? Please comment, I love knowing from my readers.

To those interested in the videos I've mentioned (and I hope many of you will be), you can find BloodlessAgain in youtube (I cannot give you an actual address as it gets lost when I post, sorry). The video for this fic (or fics) is 'like a wildfire', and I really recommend 'ghost of you', both, of course, Skyeward.

To those following my current story "Rage and Serenity", the final chapter for that is still coming next week, don't worry.

As always, full-sized poster and wallpaper can be found in my DeviantArt account. Hope you'll be interested in those. I love how they turned out.

Infinite thanks to BloodlessAgain, and to all of my readers. Hope you enjoyed and see you around!


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